1. It's hard to believe, but next week's Hodgepodge will find us in the month of September. What's one thing you want, need, or hope to do still before summer officially ends?

Visit Duluth. It's kinda like going to the ocean...for Wisconsinites.

2. When were you last at 'your wit's end'?

That would probably be when knitting that peach colored sweater, which I ripped out and started a couple times. Now it's been so long since I've worked on it that I'll probably have the same problem. I need to set a deadline for myself.

Diaper Covers

The shadows in the photo reminded me of another photo

which I took in the spring of 2007

in the Yorkshire Dales

You're right - it's moles on a gate!(Since so many were asking, I wrote anexplanation of the moles in a comment, below)

Wider shot of the same gate

But WAIT!

Here's the shepherd who's lost his sheep

and doesn't know where to find them...

(photo by his mama)

...and whose birthday it was on Saturday:

Party by Mama and Daddy

at Grandma and Grandpa's house

3. Describe a time you were figuratively thrown into 'the deep end'?

I think it was when reading through this week's Hodgepodge questions. No synapses firing.

First year for this sweet dahlia

4. Does the end always, ever, or never justify the means? Explain.

In many cases, such as sending young people off to war, I'd say that the end rarely justifies the means, plus it usually brings a ton of long-term unintended consequences. Giving my dog a treat to teach her to be happy to come when called definitely justifies the means.

Visitor to my algae-filled pond

5. What makes your hair stand on end?

Literally, humidity. Figuratively, the movie 'What Lies Beneath.'

Lots of green beans already canned

with many more blossoms portending a long canning season

6. I read an article on the website Eat This! Health, that listed 11 foods we can eat to help end bad moods. Basically it's a feed your brain so you're less anxious, grouchy and lethargic. The foods are-mussels, swiss chard, blue potatoes, grass fed beef, dark chocolate, greek yogurt, asparagus, honey, cherry tomatoes, eggs, and coconut. Which of those do you think would most help end your own bad mood? Which do you fear, if forced to eat, would put you into a bad mood?

Definitely not the first three. Beef, maybe, if it's dinner time. Dark chocolate, Greek yogurt (daily), asparagus, cherry tomatoes (daily), and coconut are among my favorites. But they don't act alone. One needs a good movie and dark chocolate or a good book and Greek yogurt for them to be really effective.Anything, if forced to eat it, would put me into a bad mood. Especially mussels and eggs. Yuk!

One thing I love about late August

7. What project around your home, office, or life in general feels like there is 'no end in sight'?

Cleaning the basement. And that's simply because there literally IS NO END IN SIGHT.

Cute little place (and fence and ash tree)

across from the post office in Chetek which I visited yesterday to mail a birthday card.(another August family birthday coming up!)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It will be a while before I'm back posting regularly. With the quickly-ripening tomatoes in the garden and the number of them already waiting on the picnic table, I think that tomato canning is in my immediate future.

Also, fall is definitely in the air. When I came into the house yesterday morning after picking tomatoes, little grandson was wearing polar fleece and a hat because it was that cold in the house! But it just seems wrong to turn on the heat in August, and building a fire would quickly cook us out. It's supposed to be in the 80s by Saturday, so I think we're going to get a bit of summer back. I'm already missing it. I'm definitely not ready for Polar Fleece Season.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

1. Way back when (the Hodgepodge bicentennial to be precise) several of you submitted questions as part of a giveaway I was hosting. I went back to that list for inspiration today and found a question submitted by Marla, who blogs over at Marla's Musings. Thanks Marla!

She asks-At what age did you feel like a 'grown-up'? What keeps you young now?

I'm still waiting for that to happen. I'll let you know if/when it does.

'Marian'the littlest librarian

'You have a book that's 3 months overdue!But that's okay. Here, have a Dum-Dum.'

2. When did you last buy a vehicle? Was this by design or because you had no other option? Was the car/truck purchased for your own personal use or was it bought for someone else to drive? On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being delightful and 1 being 'pass the Excedrin') how would you rate the experience?

I don't know when that was. All of our vehicles are old. And first of all, we never ever buy new. We let someone else experience the joy of those first few years of depreciation. I don't think there's been a time when we've had no other option. We try to buy with relatively (operative word here) low miles (you know, nothing over 150,000) and something that is functional for a good price. I don't know the last (if ever) vehicle we purchased because we liked how it looked. It's pretty much a utilitarian thing for us, although by now I've become fond of my little very old white Jeep, which has too much wrong with it to make it worth fixing. It simply sits at the top of the driveway looking cute (to me.)

Okay, if I must follow the rules, I'd say.........No, sorry, I just don't like any of the above-listed foods. Actually, I avoided corn for years (I'm convinced that it's meant solely to fatten cattle and pigs - and I have no trouble translating that!). BUT then, there's Popcorn. And I even avoid popcorn unless it's made 'just right.' Mr. C. makes it just right. I've talked about that before, but for those who may not remember, Jolly Time white popcorn is the only acceptable popcorn, and it's made in a pan on the stove with coconut oil, a wee bit of butter, and cayenne in the pan before putting in the popcorn. Let me know if you try it. You'll see what I mean.

Served alongside popcorn? A good British mystery.

Produce conveyors

4. What's something in your life that regularly requires you to 'put your thinking cap on'?

That would be when reading medical journal papers written for doctors, who have a mysterious language all their own. For example, when the term 'sunken down in' (referring to a hip prosthesis) would be understood by approximately 100% of English-speaking people, doctors use the term 'subsidence' instead, which the rest of us tend to use in an entirely different context, and which term (as they use it) would be understood by a small percentage of normal people. I swear they do that just to be oblique and exclusive. It's so annoying. It's even more annoying to have a surgeon say patronizingly, 'Subsidence is the term we use for that.' I had to suppress my inner Doc Martin response.

5. Share a favorite movie set in a school or classroom, or whose theme relates to school days in some way.

SCHOOL OF ROCK with Jack Black. He is hilarious!

Radmilla and the last of the Gladioli

Flowers from Carla's garden (thank you, Carla!)

Be sure to stop in at her blog,The RiverAnd don't miss her post on the Paine Museum in Oshkoshhosting the Downton Abbey dresses exhibit!

6. Reading, writing, and 'rithmatic' are commonly referred to as the three R's. What are the three R's in your life right now?

RcanningRsurgeonsRbirthdays

7. What's something you've learned or tried recently you can say was as'easy as ABC'?

I'll have to look up the origin of that phrase, 'easy as ABC.' I suspect that in our society today, there would be many who would find the ABCs anything but easy. But anyway, I'd say that choosing a birthday gift for our youngest son was 'easy as ABC.' His birthday was on Monday, but his gift didn't arrive until Tuesday. He'll open it tonight. I don't want to divulge a secret or anything, but let's just say that it's his turn to make waffles on the weekend. (I think he'll love it!) Also, canning is as 'easy as ABC.' It's time-consuming and messy, but easy. And very rewarding.

We tested a jar...JUST like Mom's! Yum!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

♫ Oh it's canning time again, You're gonna leave me,

I can see that faraway look in your eyes...

I can tell by the way you're pickin' produce

That it won't be long before it's canning time.

Just wanted to throw that in, should I end up absent from the blog world for a bit. The tomatoes, beans, and peaches are all racing to the canner. So if I'm not posting, that's the most likely reason.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Our
shortcut to Barron is to turn right at the chiropractor's office onto
the Poor Farm Road, which is a straight shot to Salem Lutheran Church, to Highway 8, or to the
Barron Hospital, depending. The Barron County Poor Farm is, or rather
was, located just before you get to Barron.

From Chippepedia.org:

"It
was 1884 when the County decides they should look after the poor, they
bought land and built buildings on the southeast edge of Barron, it
was called the poor farm. In 1885 $2000 was appropriated to build the
buildings; The Barron County History of 1922 stated that, “Improvements
have since been made from time to time until the County now has a
pretty modern alms house, adequate barns and sheds, and a well
cultivated farm, excellently stocked and admirably equipped.” - The
rest of the brief article can be found HERE.

Tractor and Rake

Same hay field

Different angle, missing out on that golden light

I took the barn photos on the way home from Eau Claire, when we took a slight detour into the lovely, hilly countryside west of Bloomer. It's full of picturesque old barns, beautiful hillsides, and sand mines.

The collage is of produce from our garden. I picked the lavender and dried it in the dehydrator. I had forgotten what a mistake that was. Next time, and I do have another small 'crop' to pick after it blooms, I will pull out the plants and hang them upside down in the corner of the kitchen. I think that will dry them just as well and better preserve the beauty of the blossoms.

Quick and Easy Summer Produce Dinner

Of course, the summer squash and zucchini that we've been waiting for months to taste, come on incredibly suddenly, and in a matter of a few days there's way too much of both. But they do make a tasty, light summer evening meal when combined with peppers and tomatoes fresh from the garden, onion (not from the garden because I have no success with raising onions), garlic, black olives, and a red potato.

Actually, I had some leftover beef roast, so I had cut that into thin strips and sauteed them, along with the onion and garlic and pepper(s), in a couple T. olive oil. When the vegetables were somewhat translucent, I added the other ingredients, except for the seasonings, and stirfried it all together just until the zucchini and squash were hot, slightly cooked, but certainly still having some serious and crucial crunch to them.

Once everything is hot, I sprinkled it with salt and pepper, some Perfect Pinch by McCormick, a wee bit of heat from cayenne, and Parmesan cheese. I loved it. I don't think that Mr. C. was a huge fan, however. Oh well. I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day. Even better.

1. When was the last time you relocated? Did you move yourself or leave it to the professionals? Are you happy staying put or is there a move in your future? Best thing about moving to a new city or town? Least favorite and/or hardest thing about moving house?

We moved to our present location 27 years ago. I doubt that there are many up here in NW Wisconsin who have professionals move them. A couple pickup trucks, a couple of sons, a trailer, several trips from there to here, and it's done. I like staying put unless I had the option of moving to Yorkshire for a year or two. I'd jump at that chance. I've little experience with moving to a new city or town, but we did move to Lancaster County, PA for part of a year and the best thing was all the historical sites we could access from that location. It's a beautiful part of the country, and one can never get too much Gettysburg.

The hardest thing would be...unpacking (trying to find things)....or in our case after 27 years in one place, the most difficult thing would be getting rid of 27 years' accumulation and keeping just the essentials. Neither Mr. C. nor I are good at determining which are the essentials.

The 'girls,' camping out in the screen room

Peek!

2. When were you last 'moved to tears'? Explain.

I'm not much of a crier, but it brought tears to my eyes and a catch in my throat when I got off the phone with our daughter and was relaying to Mr. C. that she got to MEET, IN PERSON, the long-time-much-admired tenor Jose Carreras, at La Scala in Milan the end of July. I could feel how thrilled she was. (And that's another thing: I love the technology that allows our daughter to phone us from a train in Italy to our vehicle in Wisconsin, to give us the news.) Brings tears to my eyes even now, just remembering that conversation.

Redneck Fireworks

Since it was my birthday celebration last weekend, it gave the 'boys' an excuse to shoot off fireworks. And now I'm going to cram in a bunch of photos I took over the weekend.

Awwwww...

3. Do you have rules about eating in the car...any forbidden foods? What's the last thing you consumed in your car? Your go-to car snack when traveling long distance?

If we had rules about eating in the car, it would be no eating ice cream or ketchup. I think the last thing I ate in the car was a bag of pistachios. When we travel long distance, we take peppers, carrots, cheese, chips or crackers, and Pure Protein bars.

Angry Bird...Happy Boy

4. Share a favorite song relating to cars and/or driving.

'Riding Along in My Automobile...with no particular place to go'. AND The Beach Boys' 'Fun, Fun, Fun til Her Daddy Takes the T-Bird Away.' Okay, so I don't think I've listened to any popular music for a very long time. It's not my thing.

Ray Charles of the Bird World

Cedar Waxwings

5. What's your most frequently visited drive-thru...Starbucks? the bank? the pharmacy? some other window?

I doubt that I would visit a Starbucks drive-thru even if there were one within a hundred miles of our home. I grind my own coffee beans, and if I'm going to pay for anything, it's going to be the beans, not for who-knows-who putting coffee I don't like anyway into a styrofoam cup and charging me exorbitant prices for it. Just sayin.'

6. "He who hesitates is lost"...would you agree? When it comes to making decisions do you generally act quickly or do you more often than not fall into the 'lost' category?

I guess I would say, 'He who hesitates might possibly be lost, or maybe not.' Example: I was in Colfax the other day at a little antique shop and there sat the cutest little green Depression glass sugar bowl. It has the straight lines that I like in green Depression glass. Nothing fancy. I thought about buying it...$14.95, but then, until I had walked into the shop, I didn't know the thing existed...so how badly could I possibly need it, right? I decided to wait until the next time I'm in the shop, which might be a month or so from now. If it's still there, I'll buy it, maybe. Then again, I might push it out a couple more months - or just completely write it off. I mean, it's not like I have a bleeding wound that NEEDS a bandage, right?! But it sure is cute! Generally speaking though, I tend to make decisions quickly. Fare alert, eBay, Craig's list, what to order at a restaurant, etc.

Watching Daddy and Grandpa working on the porch

7. When was the last time you got lost? Was it stressful or an unexpected happy adventure?

I don't remember the last time I was lost. Being lost would never be a happy adventure for me, unless I were lost somewhere in the Yorkshire Dales (on a sunny day), had an extra bottle of water, a beautiful Yorkshire/Scottish Blackface Sheep or two walking beside me, a German Shepherd Dog (who'd been trained to leave the sheep alone) for additional company, and I just happened to have a cell phone, a compass, and a map in my pocket.

I want to get out on some of the many back roads of Wisconsin this summer, but if I go alone, I'm taking a Wisconsin atlas. There are too many roads, the state is big, and there are coyotes, wolves, and bears. True, I'd be in a car. Anyway, I'm thinking about getting a Wisconsin atlas and gazetteer through Amazon, for although I'm usually pretty good about sensing cardinal directions, it would be possible to drive a long way and run out of gasoline before finding my way home. There are so many interesting, winding roads.
8. Insert your own random thought here.

It's always a thrill when eagles land in the pine tree north of the driveway. Sunday morning there were two of them. I think our daughter, the one whose family was 'camping' in the screen room of the porch, heard an unusual sound and looked up...There were the eagles, perched atop the huge spruce. They were in no rush to leave. One of them was there again yesterday morning. I saw him when I took Misty out at 7:30 AM and when I went back out to go to the garden at 10:00 AM, he was still there.

Ready for lift off

The family fisherman

Voted 'Most Cheerful Child'

Mr. C. and Bobby, my cousin from MontanaIt was wonderful to get to spend time with her!

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